Audio Software For Mac
Posted : admin On 11/1/2019Smooth workflow is one of the reasons why Audio and Video Professionals prefer Mac to Windows. As long as you have the right apps, you wouldn’t face any glitches, per se. If you want to record audio for music production, podcasts or something else, you need the best audio recording software for Mac.
By default, Mac allows you to record audio from Mac internal mic, which is fine if you want to take quick audio notes. However, if you want professional audio quality, we recommended using a USB mic like Blue Yeti. If you want to record system audio, install Soundflower on your Mac. Most the following Mac Audio recorder allows you to change audio source. Down below, we have covered some of the best audio recording software for Mac that you can use.
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Read: 10+ Best Voice Recorder Apps For iPhone
Best Audio Recording Software for Mac
1. QuickTime
Best for – simple audio recording
QuickTime, as you may know, is an inbuilt utility in macOS. It’s usually used for video/audio playback but it lets you record audio content as well. Just so you know, QuickTime also lets you record video using a webcam or a connected device. Now, coming to the audio recording feature of QuickTime, everything is super-easy. You have a really intuitive interface with minimal customization options.
It’ll take you a few extra clicks to start recording audio with QuickTime. First, launch the app from the Spotlight, and go to File > New Audio Recording.
For instance, QuickTime lets you change the recording source — pick between the internal microphone and the system audio (with SoundFlower). You can also change the Recording quality between High and Maximum. Once these are set, just hit the Record button. As the program records your voice, you can see the size of the recording file also. Once you’ve recorded the whole thing, you can export the file as MPEG-4 Audio file. However, there is no option to pause audio recording, you can only stop it and start a new one.
Pros
- Really easy-to-use interface
- Built-in macOS
- Ability to record from different sources including an external Mic
Cons
- Limited customization options, no option to pause recording
- The interface isn’t suitable for professionals
- Limited options for exporting audio
The Verdict
QuickTime is the best Mac software for casual audio recording. It gets the job done — with minimum things at stake. You don’t have to worry about complex customizations or exporting. Everything you record will be available in a single file. That having said, we would not recommend QuickTime for professionals.
QuickTime Comes Built into Mac
2. Audacity
Best for – recording voice over and editing
Audacity is a free and open source audio recording software for Mac. We use for recording audio for our YouTube channel. You have an option to choose the recording source (we use it with Blue Yeti mic), recording channel type, audio type etc. As you can see below, it does offer a wider range of control as well. But, the best part about Audacity for Mac is that it comes along with a bunch of editing tools. In fact, Audacity is a digital audio editor, first, and recorder later.
Unlike QuickTime, Audacity lets you perform basic audio editing tasks like editing. You will also find options like effects, voice generation, noise removal, and track-based management. In case you are into professional audio recording and editing, there is a wide variety of Audacity plug-ins to choose from. Another bright side is that you will be able to export the audio recording in almost any format.
The reason, why we prefer Audacity is because it’s cross-platform support (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux) Just as Photoshop save the file in PSD and have all the properties intact, you can save audacity files in AUP, which can be later open and edited from any computer that audacity installed in it.
Pros
- Professional features for recording & editing
- Multiple audio recording and editing options
- Free, Open Source and Cross-platform
Cons
- Audacity doesn’t have an intuitive interface
- Takes time to get used to
The Verdict
As we said, Audacity is made for professionals. Did we say that Audacity is free to use? It’s free, open-source and cross-platform. Considering the features you get, it’s an awesome deal as well. At least, you would not have to worry about paying a huge amount for your DAW.
Check Out Audacity (Free and Open Source)
3. Simple Recorder
Best for – quick audio recording
Simple Recorder is a truly simple solution for audio recording in Mac. It doesn’t come with many bells or whistles, but it gets the job done. Unlike QuickTime and Audacity, which takes multiple mouse click to start the recording, Simple Recorder sits in the menu bar and can start the audio recording in just two clicks. Best solution when you want to take quick notes.
You can select the source of recording from the drop-down menu. It also lets you set up the volume. In just a single button, Simple Recorder would start the recording process. In the Preferences section, you can pick the recording format, Sample Rate, Channel etc. There are some Pro features like Status Icon, Shortcuts and some levels of Automation.
Pros
- Quick and Easy to use
- You can manage all the actions from the icon menu itself
- Offers support for different sources and standard customization
Cons
- Doesn’t offer basic Editing options
The Verdict
Simple Recorder is the best Mac audio recording app for the intermediate users. Unlike QuickTime, it offers a standard set of customization options. That having said, unlike Audacity, the features aren’t that suitable for professionals either. So, if you think you need somewhat control over recording, go for this.
Check Out Simple Recorder (Free, offers a Pro plan as well)
4. GarageBand
Best for – recording audio for music production
Technically speaking, GarageBand is a digital audio workstation, not a digital audio recorder (like QuickTime) or a digital audio editor (like Audacity). In simple words, if you are into recording audio for music production, GarageBand is one of the best choices in town. It’s rich with features and offers the best level of compatibility. Last but not the least, you’d not have to pay a single penny for this program.
Like Audacity, GarageBand supports MIDI recording and editing out of the box. However, unlike Audacity, GarageBand has a smaller learning curve and is more stable. Also, it’s compatible with any iOS device.
Although it’s a fully-fledged DAW, you don’t need rocket science to record audio using GarageBand. It even has a dedicated mode for Voice, where you can also select the type of voice recording. For instance, it offers different options for recording Narration Voice and Bright Voice. Just hit the Record button and you can do the exporting part later.
Pros
- GarageBand is a fully-fledged audio recorder
- Comes with built-in audio editing features
- Well-suited for professionals
Cons
- GarageBand isn’t suitable for Quick Recordings
- Getting used to the interface may take some time
The Verdict
GarageBand is the recommended choice for professionals out there. If you need the best quality, control as well as performance, you should go for this built-in tool. Although the UI is simple, learning GarageBand will surely help you as an audio professional.
Check Out GarageBand (Free, Built-in in Mac)
5. Piezo
Best for – recording podcast
Piezo from Rogue Amoeba is a simple and wonderful audio recording software for podcasts. If you want to make some amazing podcast recordings with precision, you can count on Piezo. Unlike all of the tools we’ve talked about earlier, Piezo lets you record voice from popular apps like Chrome, Skype, FaceTime, Messages etc. It is one of the best features for getting precise podcasts, you know.
Settings in Piezo are very easy to manage. That having said, it lets you change the Music Quality only. Still, you don’t have to do guesswork here. Piezo has set up some quality pre-sets for music, audio, spoken word etc. By default, the recordings will be saved in MP3, which is convenient for most people. Just as you can see, the interface is a bit unconventional.
Pros
- Really easy-to-use Interface
- Quality Presets are useful for quick recording
- Supports recording from individual apps
Cons
- Could have better-exporting options
The Verdict
Piezo is the best audio recording software for doing podcasts on Mac. You can simply record your own voice or get inputs from common apps like Chrome or Skype. It is basically minimal but you have options to extend the capabilities of Piezo.
Check Out Piezo ($23, free trial available)
6. Macsome Audio Recorder
Best for – recording audio from multiple sources
Macsome Audio Recorder is one of the voice recorders that promise to do almost anything. Without bringing all the professional features, Macsome Audio Recorder lets you record audio from multiple sources such as the internal microphone, different apps on your Mac and other hardware. Unlike some other apps, however, it doesn’t offer any kind of optimization.
Despite all these features, the program has a minimal footprint to offer. Did we say mention that Macsome Audio Recorder has one of the best recording management interface as well? You can even use ID tags for organizing your recording files. We really liked how Macsome Audio Recorder works. You can add separate recording profiles for apps/hardware and start the recording process in a single click.
Pros
Audacity Audio Software For Mac
- Simple but effective interface
- Supports recording from individual apps/hardware
- Super-easy management of recording profiles
Cons
- The Recording screen isn’t intuitive
The Verdict
As it promises, Macsome Audio Recorder is one of the best all-in-one audio recorders for Mac. It might not have the best UI in town, but there are many productive features. When you want a tool that records podcast, music, and speech with the same efficiency, Macsome Audio Recorder would be our take.
Check Out Macsome Audio Recorder ($29.95, Free Trial available)
7. Audio Hijack
Best for – advanced video recording
We already talked about Piezo from Rogue Amoeba, right? Audio Hijack is also from the same developer but it offers advanced features and control. Inside a nice package, you will find tools for recording almost every type of audio from your Mac. You can even use Audio Hijack for scheduling recordings. It would be the best option when you’re recording audio from the web.
The best part is that Audio Hijack comes with different session templates — you have one for internet radio, DVD Audio, Application audio and Web Audio etc. When it comes to Application mode, you can pick an app from the list and start recording. You can also check out a bunch of built-in effects and filters in Audio Hijack. It also has an interesting UI that lets you manage how the recording process works. Overal Audio Hijack is one of the best audio recording software for Mac if you are looking for advanced features.
Pros
- Professional Interface and Intuitive UI
- In-built options for filters and sound effects
- Advanced options are available
Cons
- None worth noting
The Verdict
Audio Hijack is one of the very few Mac audio recording software that is worth paying for. You get a whole bunch of features like filters, effects, and top-to-bottom control. Even if you’re not into it, you can get a cool audio recording and management experience.
Check Out Audio Hijack ($59, Free Trial available)
8. AudioNote
Audio Software For Macintosh
Best for – take audio notes during lectures
AudioNote lets you combine a note-taking app and audio recording app. This is how it works: you can open AudioNote and start recording the lectures, interviews or something else. When you make notes on the screen, it will be synced with the audio. So, during the playback, you can listen to the audio as well as seeing all the notes on the screen.
There are some really cool features too. For instance, you can tap on one section of your notes to jump into the corresponding section in audio. As a note-taking software, you can bring text, shapes, annotations and a lot more things. Once you are done, you can also convert your notes to a PDF document. The best part is that you have everything in sync.
Pros
- An excellent way to record and sync notes
- Easy interface
- iCloud integration
Cons
- None worth noting
The Verdict
AudioNote is the best option for students and professionals alike. With this tool in your hand, you don’t have to worry about getting the list in the notes. You would know what the professor was talking about when you’d written something. Pretty cool, isn’t it?
Check Out AudioNote ($14.99)
Best Audio Recording Software for Mac
Well, these are the different kind of audio recording software for Mac, for different needs. For your day-to-day casual recording needs, Simple Recorder is the best option, indeed. On the other hand, if you are into the world of podcast recording, go for Audio Hijack from Rogue Amoeba. Options like GarageBand as well as Audacity are for those who need professional-quality control over the recording quality and process. Still, you can take an effort to step up the game.
Read: 4 Best Voice Recorder Apps for Android
In case you have an Apple computer at home or office, the probabilities of obtaining high-quality and completely free applications are hysterically limited. This is precisely true whilst you consider the audio editing tools for the Mac users. Certainly, there are prevalent music applications like the company’s Bias Peak or Soundtrack Pro, but they are really unpractical for regular consumers not as they are quality tools but they come with really high price labels. For this reason, the open source and free music recording and editing software applications like Audacity for Mac provides a reprieve to the music enthusiasts. Unable to find an appropriate audio recording tool for your Mac device? Go through our comprehensive Audacity for Mac – Review and get to know about the best of options or features that you will obtain using this powerful software.
Crafted by Roger Dannenberg and Dominic Mazzoni, Audacity is accessible for every single platforms and OS comprising Linux, Windows, and Mac. At this time, Audacity has crossed the 76.5 million downloads marks and has been awarded the highly regarded honors like the 11th most popular downloaded software and the Best Project for Multimedia. Audacity is an amazing software or tool that might be able to convert, record, alter, edit, export and import files short of spending even a single penny.
Audacity for Mac Review
Accurate with its system, Audacity is capable of delivering really high-quality audio files whilst the users are provided with plenty of features to customize and dominant editing preferences. Similar to the other software applications for your desktop, Audacity also has several advantages along with the disadvantages. Go through our comprehensive yet enlightening Audacity review down below:
Audacity for Mac – Advantages
The software might be able to record the top-quality audio from the microphone, mixer, live radio, digital media, sound cards, streaming, and so on.
It may export and import the audio or music files in several audio formats.
Stabilizing the quality of audio and offers support for several bit rate samples is likely.
Copy, cut, delete, paste, mix, and label tracks using its expedient editing preferences.
It comes with the capability to add several effects devoid of altering the original tempo of the music.
Audacity for Mac – Disadvantages
The users have reported sporadic crashes whilst launching Audacity audio software on the Mac OS X El Capitan.
The absence of the RSS feed formation.
The uninterrupted MP3 output is difficult owing to the absence of the inbuilt MP3 encoder.
The intricate systems turn it pretty difficult to use, particularly for the new users.
Producing bigger projects using Audacity Audio Editing software might take some time and at times experiences technical difficulties.
In case you aren’t content with Audacity’s performance, then you would require looking for other tools like the Audacity Alternative for Mac.
The Best Mac Software Akin to Audacity
Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac
In case you desire to have a top-quality audio recorder, which functions on Mac counting the El Capitan, then the Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac is going to provide you with beyond only the quality audios but easy to use editing options on top. You might be able to use it for recording any sound or audio that is being played on Mac, whilst the software backs both external and internal sources of audio. Diverse file formats are moreover available like the MP3, M4A, AU, AC3, AIFF, M4R, OGG, and many others.
Having this substitute to Audacity on your Mac, you might find it really easy to record almost everything from radio sounds, streaming audio, VoIP calls, local files, and audiobooks. Moreover, you have the capability to record the audio files from various popular websites such as VEVO, YouTube, MTV, Pandora, Yahoo, iTunes, Napster, Jango, and many others. Furthermore, you might be able to utilize this tool for audio recording from external sources such as the in-line devices and microphone.
One among the finest features of Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac is its capability to edit the audio files. This solely signifies that you might visually see the audio files getting cut, trimmed, split, merged, converted, distorted, filtered, and other effects. Distinguishing and editing the audio track data or ID3 tags is moreover possible using this music software. A good feature is that it doesn’t possess any restrictions so you might be able to edit and record audio files as and when your heart requests.
Being a really dominant program, the remaining features of Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac comprises of an inbuilt scheduler, which you might be able to for creating scheduled audio recordings. It is going to automatically stop or start recording the audio by regulating the time settings of starting/ending and others. The top quality 1:1 lossless music output, diverse languages supported, software updates, developments, and security patches are moreover provided for the finest audio recording performance.
Without a doubt, it is a commanding tool that has the capability to perform virtually everything from recording audio files by online means to making changes to the audios from the external sources. As compared to the former, this software application for your desktop is fairly easy-to-use and delivers a 100{f04677267ddbb912e58287e64713130599a8e00615d21d3c22a681e82681bddb} clean set up procedure. There are going to be no ads and other kinds of software that are going to infect your desktop whilst installing this recorder.
Ondesoft Audio Recorder
One more prevalent Audacity substitute for Mac is the Ondesoft Audio Recorder. It offers the capability to record and capture audio from the web browsers might be Safari, Firefox, iChat, Skype, VLC, iTunes, FaceTime, QuickTime, and other software. It might as well record the audio music files from the websites such as Vimeo, YouTube, Lastfm, iTunes Radio, etc. It also supports the grasping contents from the CD player and Mic.
Ondesoft Audio Recorder also supports the Mac OS versions ranging from 10.6 to 10.11 and it offers prevalent file formats like AAC, MP3, FLAC, and others. In the same way, it comes with an inbuilt editor and the one-tap call recorder that has been intended to save the chat conversations. It comes with an effectual interface and there is moreover a free trial accessible for open users.
Whether you desire open source free software that might be able to perform fundamental editing and recording capabilities or a top-quality tool that provides you with the versatile abilities and limitless sound grasping choices from Mac is pretty much probable. Having these top-quality desktop applications, you might be able to revel in good music as and when you require and as many as your desktop’s hard disk might hold.